Liu Yang, the first Chinese woman in space. Photograph: Quirky China News/Rex Features

Chinese astronauts carried out the country's first manned docking mission on Monday, taking it one step closer to building a space station within the decade.

The saturation coverage of the trip in state media had previously concentrated on its other first: Liu Yang, the youngest of the three astronauts, is the first Chinese woman to go into space.

The trio entered the Tiangong 1 laboratory module around three hours after it linked up with their spacecraft, the Shenzhou 9, led by their commander, Jing Haipeng. The docking was shown live on television.

The Tiangong 1 is a prototype, rather than a component, of the space station that China hopes to build in the next 10 years. But the rendezvous and docking practice is an important step towards constructing a full space laboratory.

Although China is technically still far behind the United States and Russia, it is progressing fast, while the US has pulled back on its space programme.

The astronauts will spend around 10 days working and sleeping on board Tiangong 1. Liu has a separate toilet and bedroom, Chinese space experts have said.

The module includes an exercise bike and the astronauts will be able to recharge their laptops using solar energy, allowing them to listen to music and play games, state media has said. They will also be able to hold live video chats with their family.

Liu's inclusion has created a new burst of interest in the space programme.

"Arranging for women astronauts to fly is not only a must for the development of human spaceflight, but also the expectation of the public," the space programme spokeswoman Wu Ping said before the launch.

Chen Shanguang, director of the Astronaut Research and Training Centre of China, said: "Space exploration activities would be incomplete without participation of female astronauts."

But while many celebrated the news as a stereotype-busting step forward for Chinese women, not everyone seemed to have got the memo. The first sentence of one report by the state news agency Xinhua read simply: "She is a wife."

It went on to point out that she was also a good cook and "proficient homemaker".

Pang Zhihao, a researcher with the China Academy of Space Technology, said Liu was even allowed to take cosmetics into space, although it is not clear if she availed herself of the opportunity.

Although she is far less experienced than her colleagues – starting her training as an astronaut only two years ago – they have said she quickly caught up.

"Despite starting her training late, she is now on the same page as us, which exceeded our expectations," said the Jing in an interview before the launch.

As a child, the 33-year-old wanted to become a bus conductor. But instead she joined the air force, where she became known for her patriotic speeches – winning a military speaking competition in 2010 – as well as calmness in crises. She also showed a steely resolve and independent streak, reportedly once writing to her parents: "Under the protection of the family, baby eagles can never fly high."

Chinese officials had previously said they would only send mothers into space, in case the experience might affect fertility, but state media reported that Liu does not have a child.

Around 50 women have gone into space, but only eight nations have produced female astronauts and China is only the third to send a woman into space, having first put an astronaut into space in 2003.

The first woman into space was the Soviet Union's Valentina Tereshkova in 1963. Nasa did not put a woman into space until Sally Ride's mission in 1983 – more than 20 years after Alan Shepard became the first American man.

•Additional research by Cecily Huang

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